Smiling
by beggars-would-ride
Summary: My first Fruits Basket ramblings. Akito is stopped from seriously harming Tohru I made up the setting by an OC. There's a tiny bit of violence, but not much since all characters involved are pretty fragile. Possibly an AkitoOC pairing? Maybe...we'll see
1. Chapter 1

"STOP SMILING!"

Akito's eyes grew maniacal as he screamed at the top of his lungs. He lunged at Tohru, his lean form surprisingly agile in his heavy, flapping robes. He seized the hair at the top of her head, right where it hurts the most. Her eyes grew wide with shock and then shut tight with pain as Akito pulled harder and harder.

"Who do you think you are? You worthless, prying, disgusting, stupid, ugly girl!" he shrieked.

Tohru didn't know what to think. Akito's power over her was such that her mind whirled so wildly she did not even notice her hair was coming out at the roots in his hand. Worthless? Yes, of course she was, even after all her hard work of trying to serve others. She failed so often that worthless she must be. Prying? Yes, what right did she have to force her nose into the affairs of the Sohma family? She was hurting them all, not helping them. Disgusting? Stupid? Both true. Ugly? Yes, indeed. He nose was too big and her skin was blotchy and—

"NO!" A high clear voice pierced the melee of hurtful words hurling from Akito's mouth.

He released Tohru. She dropped to the floor, too far occupied with thoughts of self-derision to notice. Her tears formed a puddle and soaked her face completely. "Stop, STOP IT!" came the anxious command again.

Akito looked, shaking with rage. No-one dared to speak to him like that. No-one even dared to think such thoughts in his presence. This stranger would be taught a lesson.

He looked at the girl, for a girl it was. Young, slender, with a long neck. Her knee-length dress was pink, and her straight black hair hung halfway down her back. She stood defiantly, with her feet planted and hands clenched in fists. She was no Sohma. Akito did not know who she was, and he trembled all the more with rage at his ignorance. He was now more animal than man: his emotions completely consumed him.

The girl knew this, and she was terrified. Akito saw the fire in her eyes flicker, and just the slightest hint of heaviness take hold of her proud posture. He fueled his inhuman fury. "You will die for your impudence!" he screamed, his fist flying towards her face in a blur.

Hatori opened the door just in time to see the slim figure of this strange girl hit the floor with a resounding thud. He saw the prostrate Tohru, and his mouth fell open. Her eyes were wide with an unseeing stare.

Akito followed his punch and leapt upon the girl, his knees pressing her arms hard to the wood as he wildly pushed hair out of her face.

Such a face. Her nose was long and fine, her eyes were shut tight with pain, and her pale cheek had a gash and a bruise already forming where he had struck her. Even in forced, painful submission there was a regality to her figure and features. Akito caught his breath, one hand still gripping a lock of hair ferociously. "Who are you," he growled, "and what are you doing here?"

Her eyes opened, they fickered over Akito's shoulder to see Hatori running to Tohru. "I am a friend of Tohru's. That is all you need know," answered the high voice.

"No!" shouted Akito, though his temporary strength was leaving his body rapidly. "I need to know everything! I am God!"

"You are not my god," the girl stated calmly. "So really, you are no god at all." Hatori had Tohru gathered in his arms and was taking her from the room.

"I will be your god from now on!" screamed an irate Akito, shocked at this further impudence. "Now, answer me," he pounded her head on the floor with each syllable, "WHO ARE YOU?"

The girl's eyes closed in unconsciousness.

..:----:..

She awoke in a cage. She had blacked out? That was a new experience. She squinted in the dim light emanating from one thickly papered lamp. She was in an almost bare room with a wooden floor. She sat up and immediately had to grasp the bars in front of her to keep from falling back. Her eyes squeezed shut as tears dribbled out their corners. It felt like her head was erupting. Her knuckles went white with pain and she groaned softly.

"So, you are awake."

That voice, so low, cool and breathy. It was Akito.

The girl's eyes opened and he came into focus, sitting in a pile of flowing robes on a window seat. His face was normal and, being no longer stretched and pinched with anger, quite handsome. She was still afraid. The atmosphere of the bleak room with its white walls made her think of a hospital's Intensive Care unit. She looked away from him, and saw a bloodstain on the floor that she knew was hers.

Akito looked at the girl. Hatori had patched up her cheek and brought a large animal cage into the room at Akito's command. She sat in it now, gripping the bars and looking completely innocent and helpless. Akito thoroughly enjoyed the sight of her humiliation.

"Now," he said, sipping some tea, "why not tell me your name?"

She thought for a moment. The degree of his beauty had unnerved her somewhat. "Hatonami Uma," came the quiet reply.

"Hatonami Uma," Akito tested out the sounds in his mouth. He took another sip of tea with a contented sigh. His ignorance had been assuaged. "Uma, why did you so rudely interrupt my visit with little Tohru? You frightened her so thoroughly."

"You beast!" Uma cried. Use of her first name by this person was too much for her. She paused as Akito's eye twitched, and looked down. She sighed, regaining her composure. "Because she IS little, and she needed my help." She said no more.

Akito continued his casual sipping, staring at his caged bird. Her legs were shapely, her torso thin. Her feet were on the large side, and her hair was mussed, though Hatori had washed the blood out of it. There was still a hint of her commanding presence hidden in her downcast features. Eventually she looked up. What she saw now in Akito's face frightened her even more.

The ordinary human being would never have seen the power in Uma's face. Others looked at her and saw a sallow creature who was either too quiet or too loud. Just so, no-one would have seen the sparks of tenderness Uma noted had settled deep in Akito's eyes. But neither the boy nor the girl was normal. They were intuitive, people-readers.

The afternoon passed. Akito grew restless as it wore on. Nothing to say to his captive had entered his head, so he had not spoken. The girl lay in the back of her cage, facing away from the pacing boy. If he could have seen her face, he would have noted how taut with hopelessness it was as her mind joined her body in the cage. Akito crossed to the door and flung it wide grandly. "Hatori," he called down the hall, "the key." The large man entered and knelt by her cage. She did not look at him as her cage door swung open.

The door closed and the two were alone once more. "Come out," Akito commanded. He knew she would obey. She had obeyed all her life; it was now a habit. Her fighting spirit was as captive to her body as her body was to him. Taking her spirit would prove to be an interesting game.

As she crawled through the opening, on her knees before him, he said quietly, "Yes, I AM your god."

Her head shot up and she leapt to her feet. "Never!" she cried as her eyes blazed.

She walked past him to the door.

"You may not leave," came the cold sound of Akito's voice. Uma's hand wavered, reaching for freedom. Why not? What was to keep her there in that dark room with the boy? Yet something did. And she was amazed when she diagnosed it. Understanding. She understood him. She had always been grateful for her compassionate nature, but now it was keeping her in harm's way. And when she turned and looked at Akito, she was ashamed to discover something else: she wanted him to like her. He was so handsome...But she pushed these alarming feelings away with an image of Tohru, wide-eyed and pale, laying discarded on the cold wood floor.

"What do you want me for?" Akito heard the clear voice ring out. That was a silly question. What did it matter what he wanted her for? He wanted her to stay and that was that.

In reality, he did not know why he wished for her presence. But Akito always ran from his own ignorance.

He looked at her face, at the bandage on her pale cheek. He could not look away from it, and he did not know why. Hints of the purple bruise underneath leaked out from its edges. He felt a mysterious heaviness in his chest at the sight. It was too minute to identify.

The girl kept her mind blank. He was staring at her face, and she felt he could read people's faces. Well, he would not read hers. Then, she remembered she could move. She walked past Akito, her movements seeming stiff and awkward to her, and sat in the window seat.

Uma passed him very closely, and he felt a bit of her billowing—if wrinkled—skirt brush his leg. Her steps were rickety. He had her intimidated, and he relished in this realization.

She stared out the window at a rainy courtyard. Outside was as grey as inside. She felt the dreariness echoing her own inner thoughts. Then, the sun broke for a moment from behind the clouds. The rain glistened in the surprise light, and the entire world seemed to glow as it became a glorious haven. But only for a moment, and then it was gone.

She was still looking out the window, trying to lose herself in thought and forget Akito, when he came up behind her. For some reason, he could not keep the words in. They bubbled up in his throat and flopped out of his mouth.

"I am your god."

Fury kindled in her heart at the pride in his words. She jumped up, suddenly feeling that the window seat was contaminated because he had sat in it. "You are NOT!" she shouted. She whirled around, only to discover that he had moved closer.

The tips of their noses touched.

She ran for the door.

Akito followed briskly. "Hatori," she heard him call, unruffled, "bring her back."

Uma ran, her head throbbing, around corner after corner, lost and afraid. Suddenly she stopped as she met the cold eyes of Hatori. He stood in front of her. She remained crouched and breathing heavily as he came slowly towards her. She swallowed. It seemed she could say nothing.

"Will you walk or do I have to carry you?" Hatori's voice sounded strained. He did not even know this girl, but he sensed something was different about her. She was special somehow, like Tohru, but in a different way.

She paused, but then with a sigh of defeat turned back the way she came. "Please, where is Tohru?" she asked, still breathing hard.

"She is home, safe. She was just in shock. She slept almost as long as you did."

Slept. "I thought so," Uma answered. She kept walking. Hatori had moved in front of her, and she followed his cold, broad shoulders.

Questions consumed her. What did this unusual boy want with her? Why did he let his pale skin glow in the dark? She could not seem to catch her breath. Did hers glow like his? Why was there a frightening tenderness in his eyes? They turned the final corner. She looked and saw him waiting for her in the doorway. She glanced at Hatori and found that he could see the tenderness, too. It must be getting more pronounced. Her chest heaved. She blinked rapidly.

She was terrified.

The door shut behind her.

The tips of their noses touched.

..:----:..

He made her forget that he kissed her as soon as he drew back.

He knew that she thought he was a monster. And he knew that he could never really love her. He was wrong on both counts.

She was right: he was not God.

..:----:..

Uma awoke staring at the familiar yellow ceiling of her room. She remembered getting beaten. She had been imprisoned. She had run from her captor. She had been stopped...and then what had happened? Why was she home? Was she really home?

She pulled on her white robe and walked cautiously down the stairs, gripping the rail tightly. She heard her family conversing over breakfast.

Her mother stood as Uma walked into the kitchen. "Oh, dear, you're up? How are you feeling?" She gently touched Uma's bandaged cheek. "That was such a nasty tumble you took down the stairs yesterday afternoon!"


	2. Chapter 2

Uma sat in her room, a cozy sweater warming her shaken body. A fall down the stairs? Surely, it must have been. None of the other horrific occurrences seemed possible here in these familiar surroundings. She gradually erased them from her memory. By the time she went to sleep that night she had created an entirely new set of memories to replace the terrifying events. Yet, when she awoke the next morning, a gnawing in her stomach remained that made her want to disbelieve all the evidence.

The day wore on. Out of concern for her poor condition she was excused from school and bedridden. There was a bowl of half-eaten brunch on the bedside table. She was troubled, and had no appetite. A book lay open on her knees, but she read none of the words. Her blinds were shut tight against the afternoon sun. She rubbed the soft sleeve of her white sweater, feeling overwhelmingly listless. She wondered if Tohru was in math class now. Uma knew that whatever Tohru was doing her whole spirit was involved. Uma blinked, amazed that she missed a girl she had only met three days previously. She tried to recall the last time she had seen Tohru, but her mid seemed to have patches of fog in it.

She just sat there until she heard a knock at the front door. Her mother began speaking, but her word were distorted by Uma's bedroom door. The girl slowly slid from her bed and eased the door slightly open.

"No, no, it's out of the question!" her mother was saying forcefully. "Uma isn't fit to travel to the sitting room, much less to a house across town."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but her presence is expressly required. It is mandatory she come back with me." That voice. Uma knew it. It was deep and so very cold. But the face it belonged to hung behind a haze in her mind.

Uma heard her mother beginning to protest loudly, and getting louder as she and the stranger began mounting the stairs. Uma scurried back into bed, feeling a slight throbbing in her head. She sat in profile to the door. It opened, and in came…"Hatori!" The name leaped into her mouth, hitting her with such force that she fell forward onto her bedspread. Everything went black.

..:----:..

She awoke lying in a dim room. It was bare. It was familiar. For a moment her mind was blank, then everything came rushing back. A fight with Akito. A day in a cage. A hazy moment when she was in close proximity to…to…a shadow. A fall down the stairs? No, no. She shifted to her knees, clasping her head to steady her reeling mind.

As her thoughts settled themselves she raised her eyes. There, in the window seat sipping his tea, was Akito. Still kneeling, she asked, "Why have you brought me here?" He did not answer, and then she remembered. "What did you—why did my parents—they really think I fell down the stairs?"

A slender leg slipped out of Akito's robes. His foot came to rest on the cold wood floor. "Don't question me." The words sent shivers down Uma's spine. "I don't need a reason to have you brought here. I am your god, remember? As for your parents, their minds were-" he gestured crudely, "_fixed_ by Hatori. Yes, they really believe you fell down the stairs. And your stupid mother-" Akito smiled as Uma bristled, "interfered with my bringing you here today. She may suffer a worse accident than you. Perhaps," he tilted his head, raising a long finger to his lips, "a fall off of, say, a ladder while cleaning cobwebs would do."

Uma ran for the door. On the way she realized the futility of this action, but did not bother to slow her speed. She hit the door full force, wishing the pain that shot through her body would awaken her from this nightmare. She staggered backward, aware of Akito's watchful eyes. Tears ran down her face. "Why are you doing this?" she shrieked. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

Akito's eyes narrowed. "The more you question me, the taller the ladder gets." Uma covered her face with her hands. Akito read this action, taking the opportunity to do what he loved most: destroy spirits. "You look really ugly when you cry," he said. "In fact, I don't think I've ever seen an uglier thing. You're disgusting."

Akito watched the girl's shaking shoulders slump lower, and he felt that feeling in his chest, again. It was still too small to place. Afraid to admit his own motives, he rose gracefully.

Uma heard the rustle of his robes as he stopped right in front of her. Her sobs subsided as her eyes grew wide with fear. She raised her head, dropping one hand, but letting the other finger the bandage on her cheek.

Their eyes met. Akito felt his hand twitch, almost as though he wanted to wipe the tears from her pale face. "You're a monster," she whispered after a moment, but there was no bite in her tone.

They stood that way for a long time. They tricked themselves into thinking it was an expression of aggression, a sort of staring contest. But that was a lie; there was no animosity in their souls. This was proven when Uma tore her gaze away, a blush rising in her cheeks.

Akito swung around and walked with his typical air back to the window seat. Inside, his mind was spinning. What was causing him to act this way? He still remembered the softness of her kiss. Its ghost, which he thought he had banished, now haunted his lips. He grabbed his tea, being sure to cover his trembling arm with a wide sleeve, and took a slow sip.

The clear voice reverberated off the walls. "Leave my mother alone. You are not God. You are just a human being, and no human being has the right to decide the fate of another."

As his fury built, Akito took the moments of clear-headedness to note that, while Uma's voice was strong, there was the tiniest undercurrent of fear. Then, there was nothing but anger, and his vision went red. He whirled on the thin girl, his open hand thwacking her bandaged cheek.

As he felt the soft flesh give way beneath his hand and watched her eyes squeeze shut in pain, as he heard her hip and shoulder thud against the cold floor, he felt that weight again. This time it had grown large enough for its identity to be deduced. With dread, he named it Shame.

Uma lay on the floor, her whole body throbbing. She still had not recovered from Akito's previous abuse. She managed, with great effort, to open her eyes. Through the blur of tears, she watched Akito raise the hand that had struck her, look at it hard, then give a violent shake of his head.

Opening his eyes again, Akito looked back at his hand. He was horrified to find that the mere sight of it caused him pain in his chest of an intensity he had never before experienced. It was so fierce, all the strength was sapped from him, and he, too, fell to the ground.

Uma blinked as his cheek hit inches from her own. His eyes were closed in a dead faint, and his arm flopped useless, the hand that had struck her coming down with a slap just below his chin. She blinked again to clear her eyes. His face was so beautiful. It was completely relaxed, free from cares and false expressions. She made an unconscious vow as she stared at him, lacking the strength and the desire to get up and run. She unwittingly promised she would be the cause of his salvation.


	3. Chapter 3

Uma found herself drifting in and out of dreams. The first was of her mother, smiling, sitting in the passenger seat of the family van. Uma sat, the smile taking up almost the entirety of her mind's eye, unable to turn her head to look out the windows at where they were going.

That image faded and words began echoing around in her mind as another scene came. "Freak." "Idiot." "Close-minded fool." "You don't tolerate others? Well, we won't tolerate you!" She felt the grass against her knees. It had been so soft and warm before this group of girls had walked past. Now it felt scratchy. She stared at the pleated skirt that flopped over her thighs, but it blurred as tears filled her eyes.

"Uma?" a soft voice spoke tentatively. She looked up, not daring to speak for fear of a trembling voice. "It's OK. You believe what you believe. Your being a Christian and not supporting homosexuality doesn't change who you are. And I think you're a really, really nice person!"

Tohru. Sweet Tohru. Uma looked at the honesty and kindness in her big, brown eyes. The shine of it was something she would lock away in her heart for the rest of her life. The ridicule of her classmates and teachers was something she was used to. The church was not a strong power in France, where she had been raised by her adoptive parents. She had expected perhaps to temporarily escape the mockery and meanness here, in Japan, where she had been born. It was very disappointing that it was not so. The one bright spot in her world was Tohru. She felt unworthy of Tohru's incredible love.

Tohru's brown eyes faded into cold purple ones. Around them formed a delicately-featured face, pale-skinned, and framed by dark hair. What was Akito doing in her mind? Was he haunting her? torturing her? She realized, with a lucid start, that no negative feelings accompanied his appearance. She began to panic as she discovered that he was there of her volition. He came closer. There was a look in his eyes that frightened her. He came closer still. She could not seem to back away. There was no going left or right. Their noses touched, and then...

Akito's eyes shot open the same time as hers did. The two found themselves staring directly at each other, wide-eyed.

Uma was shocked, but her strength was sapped both physically and emotionally. Akito was weaker even than she. They simply stared at each other blankly as the door slowly opened.

As Hatori took his first step into the room, Uma again shut her eyes. She was lying on the floor with two men in the room, an extremely uncomfortable situation for a girl as modest as she was.

Hatori surveyed the scene. For a moment a bright memory stirred in the recesses of his snow-blurred mind before he suppressed it. His eyes traveled from their feet--Akito's bare, hers clothed in dirty socks--up over their slim legs across their torsos--both with arms gathered tightly to their chests--and stopped when he saw Akito's hard eyes glaring meaningfully at him.

"Sir," said Hatori, going over to aid him in standing, "what happened to the girl?"

"She annoyed me, again," the boy stated coolly. He swayed over to the windowseat and perched on it. Hatori bent to examine the still form still lying on the cold wooden floor. Uma's eyes flickered open as he drew near. They rolled to fix him with a look that asked, "why are you letting him do this?" at the same time as it told him "I can take care of myself." She rose to her feet, clutching her twice-battered cheek.

Hatori left the room then, forcing himself to feel nothing, just as he had been for many years.

..:----:..

Tohru was at school, mulling over the snatches of the pervious day's events. Therefore, she was also missing every bit of mathematics instruction. "Tohru?" she heard her name, and her heart sank. "Oh no! I don't want to have to go to summer classes, again! Here I go, slacking, disappointing both the sensei and mom!" She blushed and fidgeted wildly in her seat, trying to decide if it would be worse to guess or admit extremely apologetically that she had not been paying attention when an obnoxious bell signaled the end of class and, consequently, the school day.

Tohru frantically gathered her books and ran madly to her locker, flushing hot with embarrassment. Hana was waiting for her, and she could hear Uo and Kyo bickering down the hallway in their direction. Yuki was at a student council meeting. It was like old times, before Hatonami Uma had transferred into their school. "Poor Uma," thought Tohru sadly. "I wonder where she is now. Hopefully somewhere no-one is making fun of her. I think we could've been good friends. I felt very...safe with her around. Funny, since she got attacked all the time."

..:----:..

Akito stared moodily out the window. He had heard the words she had been muttering in her sleep. "Freak." "Idiot." "We hate you." Then she had started to wimper softly. At this , and even now upon remembering it, another feeling had sprung up in his chest. This one was centered vertically higher than the Tenderness and the Shame; he diagnosed it as Pity. No longer did these new feelings amaze him: he was too tired for any effort beyond discovery. His head gradually sank lower until it came to rest on his narrow chest. As he slumped back and drifted to sleep he realized the girl was just standing there, staring at him.


End file.
